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| Plenty of room to read, sip and smile! |
Chester provides a 'Cheshire Cat' smile to a fair clutch of local poets, novelists and children's book writers.
Historically, most of us will think of Chester, Cheshire cats and Lewis Carroll, author of Alice in Wonderland. The link here is that he (Charles Lutwidge Dodgson) was born at Daresbury, outside Chester. All Saints Daresbury has a Lewis Carroll Memorial window in its Daniell Chapel.
However, it's Charles Kingsley and 'The Water Babies' that we'd like to draw your attention to particularly. You'll find plenty of information about Kingsley in The Grosvenor Museum (indeed he helped found it!) - and he was a canon of Chester Cathedral. The River Dee inspired him to write 'The Water Babies' (1863) about a chimney sweep - a popular novel which flagged the need for social reform.
Writers
David Mitchell - Chester's Town Crier
For Crying
Out Loud! by David Mitchell, Town Crier of Chester, Avenue Books
Chester’s
Town Crier, David Mitchell, reveals the hitherto untold story of tricorne hats,
buckled shoes and men-in-tights. The first part of the book traces the roles of
the crier and the bellman as the forerunners of the newspaper, public address
system, advertising hoarding, newsreader and outside broadcaster. The story is
then brought up-to-date by recounting some of the activities of a “particularly
handsome” modern-day town crier. As David Henry Wilson observes,” It’s an
absolute treat. It had me laughing out loud and positively purring at the
general lightness of touch, self-irony and sheer joie de vivre. The cover,
photos and illustrations add to the charm, and if ever a book deserved to be on
the best-seller list, this does.”
James Rice - Summer Read for 2015
Alice and
the Fly by James Rice: debut novel, Hodder and Stoughton
James Rice
lives in Liverpool. In 2011 he completed an MA in Writing at Liverpool John
Moores University and has since finished his debut novel Alice and the
Fly - the first chapter of which won the Writing On The Wall Festival's
novel-writing competition 'Pulp Idol'. He also writes short stories, several of
which have been published, and writes songs with his friend Josh, which he
sings in a very high-pitched voice people have charitably referred to as
'unique'. He is currently working on his second novel.
Roger Price
Roger A. Price is crime fighter turned crime writer. Based
in the North West, he uses his thirty plus years detective experience to add
realism to his crime thrillers. His first novel ‘By Their Rules’ was published
in 2013 and has received many 5-star reviews. Its sequel, which also works as a
stand-alone, ‘A New Menace’ was published at the end of 2014, and is already
attracting acclaim.
Roger writes with the authority his experiences allow, from
both the world of overt investigations, and the covert.
He has seen service across the UK, Europe and the Far East and been commended
several times. He can’t write about those experiences, but he can base his
fiction from it. When he is not turning out gritty thrillers with an inside
track he loves nothing more than sitting down with a good book, a cup of tea
and a slice of cake. More information about the author and his work is
available on his website: www.rogerapriceauthor.com
Rachael Lucas
Sealed with a Kiss is Rachael's first novel and it's already a best-seller. Rachel grew up in Scotland and went to five different
primary schools, including one in Melbourne, Australia for a while. Then she
came home, lived near Edinburgh, and went to university in Northern Ireland.
Since then she's worked as a commis chef in Germany, been a hotel chambermaid
on the Isle of Skye, worked on a strawberry farm, run a stable yard, managed an
Arabian stud farm, worked at a vets, worked for a national newspaper, run a marathon, and
answered questions for a living. She's lived on a Scottish island in a house
belonging to the Marquess of Bute, in a cottage on Lord Mountbatten’s country
estate in Essex, and goodness knows how many other places in the UK.
She (and her partner Ross, six children and various animals)
now live in Southport, a beautiful Victorian seaside resort in the North West
of England. We think she's well qualified to be a great Beatons Chester author!
Poets
I came across my first Chester Poet - Gill McEvoy - through the brilliant
Happenstance Press who have published three books: Uncertain Days and A Sampler,
(both now out of print) and The First Telling (2014). Cinnamon Press have
published The Plucking Shed” and “Rise' (pictured and soon to be stocked).
Gill McEvoy
Gill runs a number of poetry groups here in Chester: The
Poem Shed, The Golden Pear poetry reading group, and Poem Catchers, and has
organised readings with Phillip Gross and Paul Henry. In her own words, 'Previously she was Artistic
Director for Chester Oyez, the spoken word section of Chester Literature
Festival. Gill is a Hawthornden Fellow. She loves good coffee, good tea, and
chocolate. Owns a loopy lurcher. Gardens with passion. And absolutely adores
bookshops with tea/coffee rooms!' We think we'll like her...
Jake Campbell
Jake
Campbell is from South Shields but now lives and works in Chester. He has
received the Andrew Waterhouse award from New Writing North, and Red Squirrel
Press published his debut pamphlet of poetry, 'Definitions of Distance', in
2012. A second pamphlet is due in summer 2015. He works at the University of Chester,
in Student Support and Guidance, and as a Visiting Lecturer in Creative Writing.
We'll add more Cheshire authors as we find them - if you're one, let us know! Of course we also have a number of sporting authors and the 'Liverpool Poets' like Roger McGough and Brian Patten.
Pop in and check out the bookshelves!